Like this:

There’s another EP coming out later this year – Fri 19 Oct – which is the opposite half of the picture to the abrasive, noise-heavy protest songs on Ugly Scene. The clue’s in the title: Disquiet – a mellow slab of grandeur and weirdness. Till then, got gigs coming up next month and more in Sept-Nov (a mixture of solo and electric band nights, details to follow). These are the nearest few dates:

Out today: the loudest and most obnoxious set of recordings I’ve done in quite a while – it felt like that kind of time again. The follow-up, hopefully due later this year, is already finished and takes a different angle… it’s called Disquiet. But for now, hope you enjoy these dispatches from the feedback frontier x

There’s a new EP due on 11 May in all its ugly glory… I got tired of introspective stuff and dialled up the noise/sarcasm/repetition. It’s also, for the most part, very… direct. Here’s advance word from xsnoize.com.

I’ve already recorded the follow-up, and that’s different again. Meanwhile, think of this one as an outburst of protest – although the final track may be one of the prettiest things I’ve ever done. A conundrum, for sure (but not too much of one… it’s getting playlisted a lot, which is very welcome).

Gigs are lining up – solo, as a guitar/drums duo, full electric band – and dates so far include:

A new write-up for the EP here – “This is not your standard Brit-Pop”, featuring “innovation, with sound experimentation, layering and fluctuations within the music’s structure itself, ranging from full-fledged psyched out Pink Floyd-ish granderie at one moment, then over to stripped-down Bob Dylan-like moments of minimalism and pensiveness”.

Episodes is on sale again from tomorrow, via Bandcamp and – shortly afterwards – iTunes, Amazon & all that bunch.

Not only does it include Kafka Song and the hidden spoken-word track from the original CD, but also 3 extra tunes (one of them exclusive to Bandcamp). It’s been unavailable for a long time due to problems with the original distributors which I won’t go into here – suffice to say a repeat appearance is long overdue. Check it out.

Okay, that’s enough for this year. It’s been full, varied and interesting, which is all one can ask of any bunch of days. (That’s in a personal and musical sense, btw. On a wider political and economic scale, it’s been fucking terrifying.)

Currently trying things out with other musicians and finishing off album #2 – more news on that next year. Also, my 2008 EP Episodes is due for re-release early 2012: further details in January. All I’ll say now is that it’s loaded with bonus material and will have proper digital distro this time.

It’s interesting putting out music mainly via internet – there’s now no such thing as a hidden track, for instance: not really. (One of the tracks on the original Episodes CD was hidden – it ain’t anymore.) Even if they don’t spill every last bean, most sites actually say in the download spec, “this album/ep, whatever, comes with a hidden track”. Don’t get me wrong – on paper, in theory, as a medium it’s great. But… Call me old-fashioned, but it’s not very interesting, is it? For either party in the transaction. Spoon-feeding, I mean, in general as well as that specific grouse.

Perhaps things’ll cycle back to to crediting people with a bit of taste and acuity; doubt it though. On the other hand, the 360-degree, access-all-areas thing we’re locked into now – potential exposure equals potential listeners, so it’s all good – hmm? Never mind that it’s vapid and boring. (Well… it’s not like someone’s holding a gun to my head and forcing me to do any of this). There’s got to be a better way – it’s just that no-one’s found it yet.